The Aces Edge

SK Baseball released renderings of the ballpark project's proposed retail portion, presented to the Reno City Council January 14 as part of their effort to convince the city to help them finance this part of the project.

See all the renderings in the Photo Gallery.

The press release:

SK Baseball today revealed its newest set of renderings, illustrating the state-of-the-art downtown ballpark and its accompanying entertainment district.
 
The ballpark, located at the corner of 2nd and Evans in the heart of downtown Reno, represents the first phase in a multi-tiered project from SK Baseball. The stadium is being constructed at an unprecedented pace, and the facility is on schedule for the Reno Aces’ April 17 home opener vs. the Salt Lake Bees, Triple-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
 
The supplementary entertainment district will feature three restaurants—one encompassing the historic freight house—, three nightclubs and an outdoor events plaza in front of the stadium. Much of the entertainment district’s infrastructure is already in place, and the final product will culminate in one of the finest fan experiences in all of professional sports.
 
The latest renderings released from SK Baseball include detailed depictions of the entire complex, including views from inside both sides of the ballpark, street-level landscapes and interior vantage points from several sections of the entertainment district.
 
“We’re very passionate about this entire project, so it’s gratifying to share these renderings with the entire City of Reno,” said SK Baseball Managing Partner Stuart Katzoff. “The ballpark is literally being built before our eyes and is nearing completion, but these artist renderings will let us share our vision of the downtown entertainment district with the residents of this city.”

The Aces have released four new renderings of the ballpark:

I thought I was Reno's most ardent Tetris fan, but boy was I ever wrong. Turns out Basin Street Properties has the biggest Tetris jones, and they're letting everybody know it by playing the world's largest* falling blocks game on the side of Park Center Tower (aka Waterfront Plaza) across the street from the ballpark site.

The rendering at right shows the completed composition. It's a bold statement, which I believe reads thusly:

That's right, we bought the city's ugliest highrise, and if you thought for a minute we were going to turn our backs on that legacy, you've got another think coming. In your face, Reno!

Bring back the primer. Better yet, let's get that other Waterfront built.

*Subject to verification

This week's Northern Nevada Business Weekly contains an article about Basin Street Properties' plans for the Nevada Inn site and their office building next door, the former Waterfront Plaza, which some marketing geniuses have renamed "Park Center Tower."

In addition to building a seven-story Hyatt Summerfield Suites hotel on the old motel site, the developers plan to "put at least $6 million — maybe more like $8 million — into a big renovation of the office building," which would include upgrading systems and adding first-floor retail geared toward hotel guests. I don't know what's behind the blank wall facing Second, but if they could open that up with storefronts, it would go a long way toward breaking up an ugly concrete monolith while creating a pedestrian-friendly streetscape.

An unexpected bonus, of course, is the project's proximity to the ballpark site across Second Street. But it was no master stroke of perspicacity. Says Matt White of Basin Street: "That was just a tad of dumb luck."

Of course, there's always a catch, as the RGJ reports:

Under city zoning, the hotel must have a 50-foot setback from the Truckee River. But if it did, there would be little room to build the seven-story, 156 unit hotel.

John Hester, community development director, said he has the authority to settle for a 10-foot wide river path, on low land next to the river. Putting the path so near the river would require U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval that could delay the project many months.

Mayor Bob Cashell said the path would go nowhere. A tall office tower would block the path to the west and a bridge is to the east. He questioned the sense of building the path at all.

"Why don't you just tell the developers to go home," Cashell said. Others agreed.

With that, Hester was sent off to find another solution. Councilman Dave Aiazzi proposed creating a bikeway on Second Street to go around the buildings.

Nevada Museum of Art will be exhibiting Un-Built Reno: Alternative Architectural Landscapes March 29 through July 6, 2008.

Un-Built Reno features a selection of architectural projects that were designed for the greater Truckee Meadows area, but for various reasons, were never constructed. The exhibition includes architectural drawings, sketches, and scaled models of residential, commercial, and public projects from the 1800s to the present — including previous proposals for various riverfront development projects and innovative designs for area residences. The architects and designers featured offer alternative visions of Reno that might have transpired had the projects actually been realized.

Included in the show will be renderings for the original Carlos Zapata version of The Waterfront in the Ballpark District.

On Friday, May 23 at noon, Dr. Alicia Barber, guest curator of Un-Built Reno and Visiting Assistant Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Reno, will discuss Reno’s changing urban landscape. $5 / $4 NMA members.

The Nevada Museum of Art is at 160 West Liberty Street in downtown Reno. General admission is $10 / $8 student or senior / $1 children 6 to 12 years / free for NMA members.

I took pictures of the new renderings shown at the groundbreaking. Click an image to see a larger version:

A couple of things to notice:

• Instead of being razed, the fire station building is incorporated into the retail scheme. Looks like the developers believe it has potential for adaptive reuse. I hope they keep the fire pole.
• The field is 16 feet below grade. In principle a good idea, but here's hoping a swollen Truckee doesn't turn that seating berm into Niagara Falls one winter.
• The shed portion of the Freight House is gone (no surprise there).

It's hard to get a sense of the field dimensions from the drawing, but I'll make some initial observations anyway:

• The right field fence is tantalizingly close to the river. Is it too much to hope for McCovey Cove-style "splash hits"?
• Fenway-esque short porch in left (minus the Green Monster) is necessitated by the train trench directly behind what appears to be a stand of bleachers.

As with any conceptual plan, things could (and probably will) change quite a bit as the realities of the site become clearer during design and engineering. They may find, for example, that a drainage system for the dugout field is prohibitively expensive.

The ballpark, situated in downtown Toledo, incorporates an existing historic building and includes a novelty store. Newsweek magazine recognized Fifth Third Field as the Best Stadium in Minor-League Baseball. the stadium also has been named the model of accessibility for sports facilities by the Ability Center of Greater Toledo.

Let's see… a downtown ballpark incorporating an existing historic building. Sounds sorta familiar. Not sure about that novelty store, though.

About the odd name: Fifth Third is an Ohio-based bank that bought the naming rights to the stadium.